Jail for site supervisor who ignored safety rules, leading to worker's death

A construction site supervisor disregarded demolition safety protocols and told his men to hack away parts of a two-storey house, beginning from the ground level.

As a result, the balcony slab above where a worker was working collapsed, killing him and injuring another worker.

The supervisor, Malaysian Kong Chiew Fook, 55, was yesterday jailed for 11 months after he pleaded guilty to committing a negligent act that endangered others.

Kong was a construction manager at Springview Enterprises and was supervising workers in a project to reconstruct a house in Aroozoo Avenue in Hougang between December 2018 and August 2019, Ministry of Manpower (MOM) prosecuting officer Mohd Fadhli told the court.

A demolition plan, method statement and structural drawings were drafted and approved by the authorities before the works started.

On March 4, 2019, Kong instructed three workers, whose names were given only as Mr Santo, Mr Ponnir and Mr Ddin Shahab, to carry out hacking work at the premises. He left for another worksite and left the men unsupervised.

While they were hacking the walls on the second floor, a floor slab collapsed, pinning Mr Santo beneath it.

Mr Ponnir, who was working on a one-tier scaffold, was also thrown off and fell to the ground.

Workers used an excavator to lift the floor slab before Mr Santo was pulled out.

He was pronounced dead at the scene and reportedly died of head injuries. Mr Ponnir suffered multiple fractures and was hospitalised for two months.

Investigations showed that Kong was given demolition documents which clearly stated that the works were to be carried out with established safety protocols.

Before the works, he was also reminded by Springview director Heng Kong Chuan to adopt a top-down approach for the demolition works, a method of starting from the roof to the ground, which would help ensure the building's structural stability, said Mr Fadhli.

But Kong disregarded these rules and told his men to follow an unsafe demolition sequence, hacking away the supporting walls of the back balcony at the ground floor a month before the balcony floor slab above.

As a result, the balcony floor slab was unsupported and left in a cantilevered position without any supporting pillars and was prone to collapse, said the prosecution, adding that this scenario was cautioned against in the paperwork.

Seeking 12 to 14 months' jail for Kong, Mr Fadhli said: "He assumed that the balcony floor slab was strong enough to hold on its own. This assumption was based solely on his experience, contrary to the demolition plan, method statement and instructions prior to the start of works."

The defence, which sought not more than 10 months' jail, said that Kong believed the cantilevered balcony was stable since the first-floor structures supporting it had been removed a month earlier.

The judge said Kong showed a glaring lack of supervision.

MOM said yesterday that Springview and its director have also been charged with failing to take reasonably practicable steps in ensuring their workers' safety.

Mr Sebastian Tan, MOM's director of occupational safety and health inspectorate, reminded contractors to conduct thorough risk assessments for any demolition works and to communicate the plan clearly to the team.

He added: "Under the Workplace Safety and Health Act, we can hold managers or supervisors personally accountable for safety and health lapses, as shown by Kong's imprisonment."

For committing a negligent act which endangers the safety and health of others, Kong could have been jailed for up to two years and fined a maximum of $30,000.